Teenage girls who are single, pregnant and living in care are unlikely participants in mainstream pre and post natal classes or other educational and support services offered in the community.

CARA’s In Safe Hands program provides support and care for these young women who are mums-to-be or young mums and who do not have extended family support or partners to help during their pregnancy or after the birth of their baby. Living in supported accommodation with a house parent, the young women learn about caring for their babies as well as receiving educational and life skills supports.

As the young women in the program have experienced family breakdown, In Safe Hands provides the young women with skills to be confident parents and to make positive choices about their future and the future of the babies.

Living and sharing experiences with other young women also reduces the social isolation of these young women and as well as the feeling of “being different” from their friends and peers.

‘Meeting women (black and strong) from all over Australia to network, creating friendships, sharing our good times and the sadness from our experiences. I want to create ‘CHANGE’ or make a difference in people’s lives and especially in our young leaders of the future by breaking down the social determinants of health in remote communities’ – Franchesca Hodges 

In February this year, Oxfam's Straight Talk Women’s Summit brought 88 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women to Canberra to meet with women from all sides of politics to advance reconciliation, justice and equality in Australia. Participants were selected from 380 applications, and came from a broad range of locations, ages, backgrounds and experiences - the youngest participant was 17 and the oldest 80.  The women had travelled to Canberra from as far as Geraldton in WA to Bateman’s Bay in NSW, from the Torres Strait’s Badu Island to Launceston.

The summit provided these Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women with an opportunity to build relationships with women Federal parliamentarians and find ways to work together to bring positive change to their local communities. The women spent two days in workshops learned how the political system works and discussing strategies to bring about change, then met in small groups with female politicians at Parliament House. Already, parliamentarians and advisers have made follow-up contact with the Indigenous women they met during the summit, including plans to visit the women in their communities and advise them of upcoming opportunities to participate in the political process.

The “Share My Plate" recipe book is a project that has grown out of weekly Tuesday night dinners that are run out of the Asylum Seeker Welcome Centre in Brunswick for asylum seekers and people connected with the Centre.
"Share My Plate" is a compilation of recipes from around the world that have been prepared at the dinners and each dish tells a story about culture, family and place.

For many people arriving in a new country, food and cooking not only provides the opportunity to maintain connection with home and family and friends, it also provides opportunities for people to build an identity for themselves and connection with other members of their community.

Recipes for meals from the countries of the people who attend or volunteer at the Centre, and the stories surrounding the preparation and sharing of those meals, provides Melbournians with opportunities to connect with the cultures of Melbourne’s newest residents, generating more opportunities for community connectedness.

Field of Interest:           Indigenous
Grant Recipient:           Brotherhood of St Laurence
Project:                        Sir Doug Nicholls Fellowship for Indigenous leadership
MCF Sub-fund:             Sir Doug Nicholls Fellowship Fund

The Sir Douglas Nicholls Fellowship for Indigenous Leadership was established in 2003 as a vehicle for positive change in Victoria 's Indigenous community. Through the provision of financial support, networking opportunities and professional development to appointed Fellows and emerging leaders, the Fellowship empowers Indigenous leaders to focus their drive and energy in areas of importance identified by Victoria 's Indigenous community.

Fostering Indigenous leadership is vital to the ongoing survival and growth of Indigenous communities in Victoria . By supporting exceptional people and developing their leadership capacity, the Fellowship provides lasting benefits to the Indigenous community in Victoria .

The Fellowship recognises the legacy of Sir Douglas Nicholls and his example of outstanding leadership. The Fellowship enables today's and tomorrow's leaders to pursue their visions for the well-being and cultural identity of Victoria 's Indigenous communities. The Fellowship also promotes the benefits of mutual understanding and genuine partnerships between mainstream and Indigenous communities.

Daphne Yarram of Sale was awarded the 2006 Fellowship and this will enable her to continue her work with Indigenous communities in Gippsland, to further develop her leadership skills and to work towards a better deal for Aboriginal communities in Victoria . Daphne joins Paul Briggs of Shepparton as a Fellow for a five year term.

Field of Interest:           Overseas aid & development
Grant Recipient:           International Women’s Development agency (IWDA)
Project:                        Leadership Training for Young Burmese Refugee Women
MCF Sub-fund:             Social Justice Fund

IWDA works in the Asia-Pacific region in direct partnership with local organisations of women who live and work in the communities. For this project, IWDA supports local partner, the Karen Women’s Organisation, to run the Karen Young Women’s Leadership School .

The school provides education opportunities to 22 refugee women a year from the Karen ethnic minority in Burma from the 9 refugee camps along the Thai/Burma border. 

Since 1988, close to a million Burmese have fled their country to neighbouring countries and border camps, where they live in extreme poverty and oppression with no understanding or protection of their rights.

The Karen Young Women’s Leadership School is creating opportunities for women to improve their lives and communities.  Over 13 months’ residential education, students gain skills in leadership, advocacy and community development, leading to positions in community governance and human rights.

65 young women have graduated from the KYWL School since its inception seven years ago. They have taken up leadership positions in Karen refugee camps, Karen Women’s Organisation, and are raising awareness of the plight of the Karen internationally.

For further information about IWDA and their work go to www.iwda.org.au

Field of Interest:           Medical Health & Research
Grant Recipient:           Orygen Research Centre
Project:                        The Family Anthology DVD
MCF Sub-fund:             Sally Oatley Memorial Fund, Alf and Meg Steele Fund, Social Justice Fund

Isolation, uncertainty, fear, embarrassment, alienation, disbelief … any number of words can describe the bewilderment of a family dealing with the mental illness of a young person. Through a number of focus groups, Orygen identified that families and carers want to understand how the psychiatric system works for them and what information is readily available.

While respectful of expert opinion, they really wish to hear from people who have confronted the same issues and have common experiences. To address this need, Orygen has developed a DVD of family anthologies that document the first hand accounts of families and carers experience of caring fro a young person with a developing or first episode of mental illness.

Funds provided by 3 of MCF’s sub funds have enabled the production of this DVD entitled Where There’s Hope: Family Experiences of Living With Youth Mental Illness.

Field of Interest:           Environment
Grant Recipient:           Cape York Aboriginal Charitable Trust/Balkanu Development Corporation
Project:                        Traditional Knowledge Recording Project - Kuku-Thaypan Fire Research Project
MCF Sub-fund:             rmg Fund        

Building pathways for community development through revival of traditional (indigenous) knowledge within contemporary society.

The Traditional Knowledge Recording Project (TRKP) aims to support Cape York traditional owners to record and preserve their traditional knowledge and then to demonstrate its application to a wide variety of contemporary environmental, social and economic problems.

It does this by providing recording equipment and training, inserting and cataloguing recorded data into a database, providing editing and production facilities and marketing completed products.

Field of Interest:           Disability
Grant Recipient:           Seeing Eye Dogs Australia
Project:                        Support for care and training of Zsa Zsa
MCF Sub-fund:             Dennoch Fund

Since 1960, Seeing Eye Dogs Australia has been assisting people who are blind or vision impaired, to live and work independently within their communities. It takes up to 2 years of intensive training for one Seeing Eye dog to graduate with a client. These dogs provide the gift of mobility, independence and freedom in day-to-day life.

A grant has been given to sponsor the training and care of Zsa Zsa, who has recently passed her six month assessments with flying colours. 

For further information about the organisation and their work go to www.seda.org.au

Field of Interest:           Community Services & Welfare
Grant Recipient:           Church of all Nations
Project:                        Carlton Flats Holiday Program
MCF Sub-fund:             Anna Wearne Fund

For five years now the Anna Wearne Fund, througfh MCF, has provided Ernie Simms with the funds to run a holiday program each school holiday for the many children who live on the culturally diverse Carlton Public Housing Estate.

The former professional boxer has been running 'Ernie's Club' from a room on the Carlton housing estate for 25 years this year and says he's "reigned in some tough nuts over the years."